by: claire riley. background born on december 31,1995 gabby was born in virginia beach, virginia ...
TRANSCRIPT
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT GABBY DOUGLAS
By: Claire Riley
Background
Born on December 31,1995 Gabby was born in Virginia Beach,
Virginia Her parents names are Timothy Douglas
and Natalie Hawkins, but her mom was a single parent when the kids were young
She has 3 siblings
Obstacles
In early childhood her family was homeless. This had helped motivate her with her gymnastics.
She had to beg her mom for over 2 years to join a gymnastics center.
Gabby had moved 3,000 miles away from her family to begin her Olympic gymnastics training. She had a host family which was the Patrons.
Achievements
2010 Us Junior National Championship in
Beam Silver medalist. Pan American Championship in Uneven
Bars Gold medalist. Three time National team member
2011 World Championship team gold
medalist.
2012 Olympic All around gold medalist Olympic team gold medalist US Olympic trials all around trials
championship
Continued
Pacific Rim Uneven bars gold medalist
Secret US classic uneven bars gold medalist
US National Championships Floor exercise bronze medalist US Olympic Trials Uneven bars
gold medalist
Media When Gabby won Gold in the Individual All Around
at the 2012 Olympics, she was the first African American as well as the first woman of color of any nationality to win the event.
Later that summer she spoke with Oprah about racist bullying in the gym and how it nearly made her quit the sport.
The media loved her because she had lots of personality and determination. She gained lots of fans during the 2012 Olympics and received more attention than many of her peers.
Significance Because she was one of the first
successful African American female gymnasts; she became an important figure for many young girls of color who also had dreams of being gymnasts.
She told her story in two books: “Grace, Gold and Glory” and “Raising the Bar”. Both books talk about her sport, the obstacles she faced, and her relationship with God.
Currently…
She is not yet retired, but still competes. Gabby continues to train in hopes of
participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
She is training in Columbus, Ohio and plans to enter the 2015 World Championships